I can't believe it's less than three days until we leave and 6 days until we meet Anna!
Here is what we know of our itinerary for the two weeks:
Sunday, March 2: Leave Memphis at 9:57am on Northwest Airlines.
Arrive in Minneapolis/St. Paul at 12:10pm
Leave Minn/StPaul at 1:10pm.
Monday, March 3: Arrive in Tokyo, Japan, at 4:40pm (I think -- 1:40am, CST)
Leave Tokyo at 5:55pm (2:55am, CST).
Arrive in Guangzhou, China, at 10:30pm (8:30am, CST)
Tuesday, March 4: receive Anna!
Wednesday, March 5: adoption registration and notarization and either apply for Anna's Chinese passport today or Thursday
Thursday, March 6: free day except perhaps applying for Anna's passport
Friday, March 7: free day
Saturday, March 8: free day
Sunday, March 9: group tour of Chen Clan Ancestral Hall (This tour was arranged by the adoption agency's contacts. We're hoping it will be an afternoon tour so we can attend church that morning at one of the protestant churches allowed by the government.)
Monday, March 10: free day
Tuesday, March 11: group tour to Yuntai Park at White Cloud Mountain. Receive all Chinese documents.
Wednesday, March 12: Anna's medical exam for US visa in the morning. 1pm meeting to prepare consulate documents.
Thursday, March 13: US visa appointment. We don't actually go as our agency's representative will take our paperwork for us. We do have to stay in our hotel room in case they call us needing something.
Friday, March 14: 3pm, oath swearing at US consulate and pick up Anna's visa to emigrate to the US.
Saturday, March 15: Leave Guangzhou at 8:20am on Northwest. (6:00pm, Friday, March 14, CST)
Arrive in Tokyo at 1:40pm (10:40pm, Friday, March 14, CST)
Leave Tokyo at 3:25pm (12:25am, CST)
Arrive in Minn/StPaul at 12:20pm -- Anna becomes an American citizen as soon as she walks off the plane!!
Leave Minn/StPaul at 3:12pm.
Arrive in Memphis at 5:12pm.
We appreciate your prayers!!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
Travel Dates!
We finally have our official Travel Approval from China and the date of our appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou! So we've made our travel arrangements:
Sunday-Monday, March 2-3: We'll leave Memphis on a Northwest flight mid-morning Sunday. We'll have a short layover in Minneapolis and then another short one in Tokyo. The entire travel time including layovers is right around 24 hours, but due to crossing the International Date Line, we won't arrive in Guangzhou until almost 11pm on Monday.
Tuesday, March 4th: We were to be in Guangzhou before noon this day, so we hope this will be when Anna is brought to us!
Wednesday & Thursday, March 5-6: Most likely this will be when we meet with Chinese officials to finalize the adoption. We will also have Anna's physical completed for her USA visa and have her photo taken for it now.
Friday -- Wednesday, March 7-12: We will be waiting on Anna's Chinese passport, so we'll spend the time getting to know one another with a little shopping and kid-friendly sightseeing thrown in.
Thursday, March 13th: Our agency's rep will take our paperwork to the US Consulate to apply for Anna's visa.
Friday, March 14th: We'll pick up Anna's visa and have a "swearing-in" ceremony. I'm not sure yet what the "swearing in" is about. :)
Saturday, March 15th: We'll leave Guangzhou early that morning and fly the same route home. Thanks to the International Date Line again, we should be in Memphis about 6pm that night!
While we are a little disappointed not to be traveling earlier, we do realize that a few extra weeks in which to settle into the new rental house will be beneficial. Plus, Cara will only miss 4 or 5 days of school thanks to Spring Break.
Sunday-Monday, March 2-3: We'll leave Memphis on a Northwest flight mid-morning Sunday. We'll have a short layover in Minneapolis and then another short one in Tokyo. The entire travel time including layovers is right around 24 hours, but due to crossing the International Date Line, we won't arrive in Guangzhou until almost 11pm on Monday.
Tuesday, March 4th: We were to be in Guangzhou before noon this day, so we hope this will be when Anna is brought to us!
Wednesday & Thursday, March 5-6: Most likely this will be when we meet with Chinese officials to finalize the adoption. We will also have Anna's physical completed for her USA visa and have her photo taken for it now.
Friday -- Wednesday, March 7-12: We will be waiting on Anna's Chinese passport, so we'll spend the time getting to know one another with a little shopping and kid-friendly sightseeing thrown in.
Thursday, March 13th: Our agency's rep will take our paperwork to the US Consulate to apply for Anna's visa.
Friday, March 14th: We'll pick up Anna's visa and have a "swearing-in" ceremony. I'm not sure yet what the "swearing in" is about. :)
Saturday, March 15th: We'll leave Guangzhou early that morning and fly the same route home. Thanks to the International Date Line again, we should be in Memphis about 6pm that night!
While we are a little disappointed not to be traveling earlier, we do realize that a few extra weeks in which to settle into the new rental house will be beneficial. Plus, Cara will only miss 4 or 5 days of school thanks to Spring Break.
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